Salted caramel tart with praline macaroons and ginger vanilla ice cream

Serves 8 Desserts and puddings

Advertisement

Method

To make the salted caramel filling, start by putting the caster sugar in a heavy-based pan and setting it over a high heat. When the sugar starts to melt swirl the pan to keep the sugar moving while it caramelises. If need be, stir gently with a wooden spoon. As soon as the caramel achieves a rich hazelnut-bronze colour, add the Madeira and allow it to boil away vigorously. Pour in the cream a little at a time and whisk briefly to combine, then add the salt and briefly whisk again. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Beat the muscovado sugar with the egg yolks in a bowl, just to mix. Add the caramel cream and whisk briefly to combine. Pass through a fine sieve into a clean bowl and set aside to rest for 10 minutes. Skim off any bubbles from the surface, then place in the fridge to chill.

To make the praline macaroons, place the icing sugar and ground almonds in a food processor and blend for 30 seconds. Put the caster sugar and 50ml water into a heavy-based pan, place it over a high heat and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Cook, without stirring, until the syrup reaches 113°C/235°F on a sugar thermometer.

Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites in a freestanding electric mixer at full speed until they form a loose meringue. Gradually add the hot sugar syrup, whisking constantly. Continue to whisk for 5 minutes, until the meringue has cooled. Fold in the dry ingredients and the praline paste with a large metal spoon until you have a smooth, glossy, deflated mixture, then transfer it to a piping bag fitted with a 1cm nozzle. Pipe 2cm rounds at 5cm intervals on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Dust the macaroons lightly with icing sugar and set aside for about 20 minutes, until just dry to the touch.

Place in an oven preheated to 150°C/300°F/Gas 2 and bake for about 12 minutes, until the macaroons are firm to the touch and have risen slightly and formed an aerated ring at the base.

Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes, then lift the macaroons off the tray and set aside to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

To make the praline cream, bring the milk to the boil in a medium heavy-based pan. Meanwhile mix the eggs and egg yolk with the caster sugar and cornflour in a bowl until smoothly combined. Pour the hot milk into the cornflour mix and stir thoroughly, then return to the pan and bring back to the boil, whisking constantly. Cook for 1 minute, then remove from the heat.

Soak the gelatine in cold water for about 5 minutes, or until softened. Squeeze out any excess moisture, then add to the mix and whisk until melted. Add the butter and whisk it in. Transfer the glossy mix to a bowl set over ice and whisk until cooled. Whisk in the praline. Lightly whip the cream and fold it in. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 5mm nozzle and set aside in the fridge. To make the ginger and vanilla ice cream, combine the milk, cream, glucose, trimoline, orange zest and ginger in a heavy-based pan. Scrape the vanilla seeds from the pod and add to the pan along with the empty pod. Bring to the boil. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a bowl, just to mix. Add the hot milk mix and whisk to combine, then pour back into the pan. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the temperature reaches 84°C/183°F; the custard should be thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Pass through a fine sieve into a clean bowl and set over ice to cool. Cover and keep in the fridge.

Churn the ice cream in an ice cream maker up to 3 hours before use, then set aside in the freezer.

Remove the tart mix from the fridge 1 hour before cooking and the pastry 30 minutes before rolling. Roll out the pastry on a marble slab or a cool work surface into a large round 3mm thick; dust the pastry sparingly with flour as you go to prevent it from sticking to the surface. Place the rolling pin at one edge of the pastry round and loosely roll up the pastry around the pin. Carefully unroll it over a 30cm tart ring, 2cm deep, set on a heavy flat baking sheet.

Gently but swiftly lift, manoeuvre and work the pastry into the tart ring to line it, trying to avoid tearing or stretching the pastry at any point. Ensure the pastry is tucked right into the corners of the ring.

Should it tear, either push it back together again or patch it with pastry and a little beaten egg wash. Allow the excess pastry to hang over the rim of the ring. Lay a large piece of cling film – 20cm bigger than the diameter of the tart – on the work surface. Lay out a second piece, generously overlapping the first, then run a third piece over the overlap.

Smooth over with a cloth. Line the pastry case with the cling film, then fill with baking beans. Place in an oven preheated to 160°C/320°F/Gas 3 and bake for 20 minutes or until the rim of the pastry case is golden.

Remove from the oven and lift out the cling film and baking beans (being layered, the cling film will not tear), then return the tart case to the oven. Bake for a further 5-10 minutes or until the base is a pale golden brown. Remove from the oven once more, brush any cracks with beaten egg (or repair larger ones with a tiny amount of raw pastry) and set aside to cool, to allow all the moisture in the pastry to evaporate. Return the tart case to the oven and heat up for 5 minutes. Pull out the oven rack with the tart case on it just far enough to enable you to pour in the filling mix.

Completely fill the tart shell, then gently push the rack back in and close the oven door. Reduce the heat to 110°C/230°C/Gas ¼ and bake for 40 minutes, or until the filling is just set when the tart is gently moved to and fro (the cooking time will vary according to the temperature of the mix when it was poured into the tart case). Remove the tart from the oven and set aside to cool. While it is still warm, trim off any excess pastry using a small serrated knife: cut away from the tart, angling the blade as horizontally as possible, so that crumbs don’t fall on to the filling. Leave to cool completely.

When ready to serve, check the ice cream – if it seems too firm, transfer it to the fridge about 20 minutes before needed. Sandwich together 8 pairs of macaroons: pipe a small quantity of praline cream on to the flat base of half of them, then lightly press on to the flat bases of the others.

Using a large, sharp and preferably serrated knife, cut the tart in half. Wipe the blade of the knife and cut one half in half again.

Continuing to wipe the knife after each cut, cut the second half in half and then each of the quarters in half to yield 8 portions. One by one, dust them generously with icing sugar and use a blowtorch to caramelise the surface.

Lay out 8 plates. Pipe a small dot of praline cream on to the centre of each plate and set a piece of tart on this (it will stop the tart from moving). Similarly stand a macaroon on another dot of praline cream. Finish the plate with a scoop of ice cream.